President’s Perspective

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s been a long, hot and dry summer in Arizona. No monsoon weather this summer. Fear not! The Lord is with us and sending us into the season of Fall. The temperatures are cooling and I pray the rain will fall. We give praise and thanksgiving to the God of the abundant harvest. 

In Luke 10:2, Jesus tells us the “harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”. As you may recall, in August, I shared the need for new Council members to serve at the beginning of 2024. I invited you to look into your hearts and pray about whether God is calling you to serve on the Council. We’ve reached out to a few of you and some have agreed to serve. Praise be to God!

Your council laborers have been working the fields this summer. Now we are ready to begin plowing the fields and plant the seeds of kindness, generosity, faith, and love as we begin to work on our Mission Spending Plan for 2024. Ministry committees have been asked to contribute their Mission Spending plans with the Council in an effort to prepare new fields and harvests. 

As we enter into the last three months of this year, our Stewardship drive will kick off with Stewardship Sunday on November 12th. Our hope is for continued generous support for our Mission Spending Plan in the areas of time, talent, and treasure. 

At our next Council meeting, we will explore and share personal stories and feelings around “money” or as scripture says “treasures”. We believe that all we have belongs to God and we are stewards of every gift. Therefore, as stewards, we have the honor of looking within ourselves and praying the Holy Spirit will provide guidance as we pursue God’s mission for us.

Lastly, faithful ones, you have been very generous in sharing your treasures, talent and time in 2023. We, the Council, thank you for the gifts you willingly and prayerfully share with New Journey. We couldn’t do this without each and every one of you. Blessings to you all!

In Christ’s service, 
Cindi Brady